


A Year and a Day

by Kamui4Heroes



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Ibuki doesnt actually wear the suit, Light Angst, Post-Canon, SecretSanta2020, because word limits are the devil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:35:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28318338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamui4Heroes/pseuds/Kamui4Heroes
Summary: But as Mamoru set the paper bag onto Ibuki's desk with a pleasant smile, Ibuki knew in his gut that even if Gyze decided to spontaneously rise from the depths and smite him where he sat…"You'll do it for the children and for Tokoha, won’t you, Ibuki-kun?"… there was no way he would escape getting stuffed in a Santa suit two years in a row.---Giftfic for the cfvg_playground 2020 Secret Santa exchange ft. a lotta characters catching up after almost a full year after G:Z.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11
Collections: cfvg playground Secret Santa 2020





	A Year and a Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [manila_envelope](https://archiveofourown.org/users/manila_envelope/gifts).



"This is?" 

"The Vanguard Association has been undergoing reforms for the past year," Ibuki leaned forward and laced his fingers underneath his chin. There was a distinct authority to his tone of voice as he spoke, a presidential air that he adopted only for official business. 

It was a tone that Mamoru, who stood right at the edge of Ibuki's broad desk in the Vanguard Association President's office, had heard very little of since the two had become better acquainted. 

"For one position I created, I thought to elevate someone who already had history within the Association. So I turned to all of the Branch heads for their recommendations," Ibuki couldn't help but smile faintly, breaking his serious facade, "Several of them, notably the head of the Dragon Empire Branch, expressed their nominations for one person." 

With that, Ibuki gestured to the envelope that he had placed down. 

Mamoru's eyes widened faintly as he picked up the envelope and gingerly broke the seal. 

On a crisp sheet of paper lined with gold foil, Mamoru found his own name in neat black letters. 

Over the title, "Vanguard Association Deputy President." 

"Ibuki-kun," Mamoru's voice sounded thin with awe, "I'm, I don't have words." 

"You don't have to accept right away. Go ahead and take some time to think about it. As I understand, you are the kind of person who generally prefers to be involved, but," Ibuki half-smiled, "I will personally admit that having your work ethic at the Main Branch would be a great boon." 

Mamoru smiled ,"When you put it like that, I feel like I don't have much choice but to accept, President." 

At that, Ibuki chuckled, prompting Mamoru to do the same. 

"I'll give it some thought," Mamoru said. Despite his words, there was a subtle gleam to his eyes that implied that he had already made his choice. 

"I appreciate it," Ibuki nodded. "By the way, didn't you mention that you had something to tell me too?" 

"Ah right! I almost forgot. Tokoha's back in Japan for the holidays." 

"Oh?" Ibuki leaned back in his seat, "That's good to hear. I heard from Kai that she's had impressive showings in Europe lately." 

"She has," Mamoru affirmed proudly. "So her friends are throwing a Christmas party like we did last year for Arata-kun and Makoto-kun's return at Card Capital 2. Which means-" Mamoru held up a bag, "- we need someone to play Santa this year." 

Ibuki Kouji, at twenty-two years of age, survived a fight to the death against the Archbishop of an alien cult almost exactly one year prior. 

But as Mamoru set the paper bag onto Ibuki's desk with a pleasant smile, Ibuki knew in his gut that even if Gyze decided to spontaneously rise from the depths and smite him where he sat… 

"You'll do it for the children and for _Tokoha_ , won’t you, Ibuki-kun?" 

… there was no way he would escape getting stuffed in a Santa suit two years in a row. 

\--- 

"In celebration of Tokoha-chan's placement at the Paris Winter Invitational," Kumi held out two piping hot white paper bags, "these croquette breads are on me!" 

"Kumi-chan!" Tokoha exclaimed, "You really didn't have to." 

"No, it's important to celebrate these things!" Kumi protested as she pressed one of the bags into Tokoha's hands. 

"I agree with Kumi-chan," Am interjected, "Second place at one of the most prestigious junior league invitationals is nothing to scoff at." 

Luna smiled mischievously from beneath the brim of her disguise hat as she added, "Am would know because she woke up super early to watch your matches." 

"L-Luna!" Am exclaimed abashedly, "You woke up to watch them too!" 

"I did!" Luna replied cheerily, not at all embarrassed. 

Tokoha smiled, "Thank you, both of you. Knowing that you're both watching and supporting me makes me want to try harder." She clutched the paper bag in her hands against her navel, letting the warmth of the bag seep against her. Being away in Paris, away from both family and friends alike, was still lonesome at times. 

So, it felt good to be home. 

"But more importantly," she opened her bag and pulled out a piping hot croquette bread, "I've been craving these since I touched down! Let's eat them before they get cold." 

"Roger!" Kumi said as she opened the other bag. 

Once the first round of croquette bread had been distributed, they all dug into their shares happily, humming in joy at the perfectly crunchy panko. In almost no time at all, Tokoha finished hers with a heavy sigh of contentment. 

"That was exactly what I needed," she said, "French boulangeries are great, but nothing comes close to Nishi bakery's croquette bread." 

"You sure do love your croquette bread, don't you Tokoha-chan?" Kumi noted.

"Of course! There are just some things in life that you can't compromise on, like the tastiness of croquettes," Tokoha stated defiantly. 

"Agreed," Luna nodded sagely as she polished off her own bread. 

"Okay!" Tokoha threw away her balled up wrapper and slid her wallet, "Round two of bread is on me, this time to celebrate Am and Luna's Rummy Labyrinth world tour!" 

"Ah." 

Am and Luna both met each other's eyes. 

"Bbout that," Luna began, "We decided that we're going to be pushing the tour back a little." 

"Huh?" Tokoha blinked in surprise, "Why's that?" 

Luna reached out and rested a hand on Am's shoulder in silent support. In turn, Am clasped one of her own hands over it. 

"It's my parents," Am said quietly. 

At once Tokoha fell mute. 

"They're," Am took in a deep breath and clutched Luna's hand tighter, "they've shown a lot of activity lately. It's a bit too early to tell, but." Am willed herself to give a small smile, "It's the most the physicians have seen in years." 

"So we want to be on the safe side," Luna explained, "Just in case they actually..." She trailed off, and looked to Am in silent inquiry. 

Am nodded, her own throat a bit too tight to voice the news herself. 

Fortunately, Luna was more than willing to be her mouthpiece, "If they do actually wake up, Am and I both want to be there." 

"Oh Am, Luna," Tokoha whispered. Wordlessly, she reached out and clasped one of Am's hands in both of her own. Her heart swelled at the sight of Am's increasingly watery eyes. It didn't feel quite right to say "I hope they wake up" after all the time that Am had already waited, so Tokoha settled for something else.

"If you need me, I'm here for you." 

"Me too," Kumi stepped forward and grasped Am's other hand. 

"Thank you," Am managed. "That means a lot to me." She carefully wiped away the forming tears in eyes as the three around her patiently supported her. Once she had cleared her eyes, she offered a small, wobbly smile. 

"I really feel like I've only made it this far because I've had the support of so many people," her eyes settled somewhere beyond the ring of people around her, "So I'll have to make sure to thank everyone properly."

\--- 

Shion finished tying off a pale gold ribbon into a bow, "Thank you again for offering to help me wrap all of these, Hayao-senpai."

"Ah, don't worry about it. I'm just glad that I could be of help," Henri replied, "Still, I have to say that I'm surprised, Shion-kun." He glanced over at the miniature mountain of gifts that the two had wrapped over the past hour – each one with a unique wrapping paper and ribbon to match. 

"When you said that you had a lot of gifts to wrap, you really meant it." 

Shion chuckled as he set aside the present he had just finished, "I just wanted to give everyone a little something to wish them well. It's not often that we're able to gather all together like this, so I thought that it would be nice to celebrate the occasion properly." 

"I can't argue with that," Henri smiled as he finished a knot of his own. 

Shion's eyes drooped to the box in Henri's hand. 

"Er, is something wrong with how I wrapped this one?" Henri asked quietly upon noticing Shion's intent gaze. 

"Ah no, I'm just impressed, Hayao-senpai. Your wrapping technique is immaculate." 

Henri unconsciously sighed in relief and laughed, "You had me worried there for a second." 

Shion chuckled, "It seems like I still have my fair share to learn from you. I'll be in your care until your graduation, Senpai." 

"Ah, likewise," Henri rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Speaking of graduation, I wonder how Rin-senpai has been faring since she graduated." 

"Well, if her tournament streak is anything to go off of, I would say that she's probably doing pretty well for herself." 

"I hope so. Even if she was kind of," Henri grimaced, "strict, she did do a lot for the club." 

"I'm not sure if 'strict' is the right word for it," Shion chuckled as he picked up his clipboard and checked off two more names. "But, I understand your sentiments. She certainly set high standards for the club going forward." 

When the time had come for Rin's retirement speech for the club, she had no acknowledgements to say. Instead, she had set her foot down against the table, lollipop dangling from her fingertips with all the haught and stature in the world.

" _Under 20 and Vanguard Koshien,_ " she mused threateningly, " _If you make a pathetic showing at either of them and put down my reputation then I'll crush you all to_ dust." 

"W-well! We made it to the finals of Under 20 this year and we won the qualifier for next year's Koshien so I'm sure that we didn't tarnish her reputation," Henri's voice tapered off uncertainly, "Right, Shion-kun?" 

Shion half-smiled, "At least I hope so. Rin-senpai can be quite terrifying- ah, hold on!" 

"W-what?!" Henri sputtered. 

"Ah, I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you," Shion apologized, "If you don't mind, I'd like to wrap that one." He pointed to the gift – a flat, rectangular case with a glass cover that revealed a beautiful chef's knife – that Henri had just picked up. 

"Oh of course," Henri passed it over. 

"Thank you," Shion said as he took it. His blue eyes glanced over the clipboard he set down as he reached for the appropriate wrapping paper and ribbon combination that he had prepared – holly red, with a teal green ribbon. 

"I have to say though, a knife is an interesting choice for a Christmas present," Henri asked. 

"It's rather unorthodox, isn't it?" Shion admitted as he set the case down onto the wrapping paper. "I was a little unsure about it too, but all the people I asked for suggestions about his present said that he liked to cook so..." 

\--- 

In a park not too far from Card Capital 1, Kai sneezed. Loudly. 

"Ah Kai-kun are you cold?" Aichi asked.

"No, I'm fine," Kai reassured. 

Aichi reached into his pocket and procured a baby blue handkerchief that Kai took with a quiet "thank you." Once he had carefully wiped his nose, he folded it into a neat square and put it into his own pocket, "I'll wash it before I give it back to you." 

"Don't worry about it," Aichi smiled, "But, if you're sneezing like that then maybe it's about time we headed inside." 

"In a bit," Kai said. 

A faint line drew Aichi's brows together in quiet concern, but he conceded, "Alright." 

The two continued their walk through the mostly empty park. The chilly weather and oncoming night had chased away most other park-goers for the evening, leaving empty swathes of concrete in their wake. 

"So, what do you think about Ibuki's proposal?" Kai asked. 

Aichi hummed contemplatively, "I think it's a good idea, but, 'The Return of the Clover' is a bit dramatic for an exhibition match isn't it?" 

"Is it?" Kai wondered aloud. Years of competitive fighting had somewhat warped his perception of what constituted as 'dramatic' when it came to event titles. Days of hearing " _Wut des Höllenfeuerdrachen_ ", " _Frappe du dragon_ ", and " _Eastern Dragon King's Challenge_ " blasted over stadium loud speakers had deafened him a little, both physically and metaphorically. 

"I would say so," Aichi said with a wry curl of his lip. 

"We can probably as Ibuki to change the name." 

"What would we change it to though, I wonder?" 

"I'm sure we can think of something," Kai shrugged, "By the way, will you be able to make it with school?" 

Aichi tapped a finger to his chin, "I think I should be fine. The anniversary is still three years off, after all. There's plenty of time to plan ahead." 

"If it came down to it, the other two and I could probably do it." 

At that, Aichi smiled and shook his head, "I already missed the first reunion at the Ultimate Stage before. I wouldn't want to miss this, too." 

Kai gave one of his rare smiles in return, "I suppose not." 

He, Misaki, and Kamui had all felt the same when they stood in the waiting room for the Ultimate Stage. Their team just wasn't the same without their team leader, their true Vanguard. 

So when Ibuki had proposed for Q4 to play in a series of exhibition matches to start off the Japanese National tournament, one decade after they had first claimed victory on the same stage, all of them had felt the same magnetic pull. Because even if their paths had led them apart to all corners of the world, there was no forgetting what they had once been: 

The number one team in Japan, Team Quadrifoglio. 

Aichi had never thought of himself as an impatient person, nor one that particularly thrived in the limelight, despite his past accomplishments. 

But at the thought of standing underneath the blinding stadium lights of the National stage as the swell of the crowd drowned out his ears as he stood side by side with his former teammates – even he couldn't help but feel excited. 

"I'm looking forward to it, Kai-kun." 

"Yeah." 

The pair walked in silence for a while longer before they both decided that it was finally time to head inside. However, just as they were turning out of the park, Kai's phone chimed with a particular notification sound that stopped him in his tracks. 

Kai focused his teal eyes flicked over the screen, tapped a few times, then paused. 

"Is something wrong?" Aichi asked curiously. 

Wordlessly, Kai flipped his phone around so that Aichi could see. 

There was a picture of what appeared to be a rooftop view of the sunset with two familiar heads framing a thumbs up held out by the cameraperson. Beneath it was a message that read: 

_Kai-san!!!! Merry Christmas! The three of us are definitely going to win Under 20 next year!!_

\--- 

"The air up here is so nice!" 

"Noa don't lean over the railing like that! You'll fall!" Makoto raced forward to reel his teammate away from the rooftop railing when- 

"Oh! You can see some stars over there!" Arata braced one hand against the railing next to Noa and pointed out to the edge of where the sunset red bled into the inky violet of the coming night sky. 

"You're right! They're so pretty Arata!" Noa exclaimed as he leaned further.

Makoto positively blanched. 

"Both of you," he grasped the backs of their clothes, "Get back from the ledge already!" 

Several things happened in the moments that followed. 

Arata and Noa both let out surprised yelps as they were pulled away from the railing. The unexpected jerk backwards made Arata trip over his feet, right into one of Noa's legs. Noa, in turn, pitched backwards precariously, making his hat slip off his head. 

In a razor fast attempt to remedy his actions, Makoto threw both arms to catch Noa before he hit the ground – something that he should've been able to do... 

… had Arata not crashed into both of them. 

Unable to sustain the weight of both of his teammates, Makoto's arms gave out, bringing them all gracelessly to the hard concrete below. 

And as the cherry on top, Noa's hat fluttered down and delicately landed right on top. 

A beat passed. 

Then Noa, still sandwiched between his teammates, began to laugh. 

"Makoto! If you wanted a group hug, then you should've just said so!" 

"T-that's not!" Makoto sputtered indignantly when Arata began to laugh as well. 

"Is that true Makoto?" Arata managed between peals of laughter, "Then here you go!" From his perch on the top of the pile, Arata reached his stocky arms around them all and closed in tight. 

The concrete was cold and dug uncomfortably into Makoto's back. His teammates had effectively crushed the air out of his lungs when they'd fallen and his shoulder had begun to go numb, not helped in the slightest by Arata's efforts to pull them all closer together. However, when push came to shove (metaphorically or literally), he knew that he'd bear it.

"Alright, alright," Makoto reached up and snaked his long arms over his teammates, enveloping them both, "Group hug." 

"Yay!" Noa cheered. 

"Hey guys," Arata grinned brightly, "How about we go ahead and yell our wishes for next year, right here?" 

"Here?" Makoto asked incredulously, "Weren't we supposed to yell them off the edge of the roof?" 

The whole reason why the three of them had climbed to the rooftop in the first place was because Arata and Noa had been compelled to declare their intents for the next year so that "all of Japan could hear their resolve." Makoto had actually wanted to try it himself for once, until his teammates had decided to lean over the building's rails. 

"I feel like doing it now!" Arata beamed, "This group hug has a great atmosphere." 

"Then, I'll go first!" Noa heaved in a deep breath, filling the barrel of his thin chest to its limit. 

"Wait, Noa-" 

"Next year! I want to go star-watching again with Arata and Makoto!" 

Arata followed right along, his brash voice bellowing even louder than Noa, "Next year! I want to win Under 20 with Makoto and Noa!" 

Makoto's ears were positively ringing after both of his teammate's declarations, but just like with the group hug, he couldn't help but be dragged along into their flow. 

He breathed in, taking in as much air as he could while being crushed by his teammates and yelled, "Next year! I want- 

The roof access door creaked open, choking the words in Makoto's throat. 

He craned his head back, red embarrassment creeping onto his face as he caught sight of a pair of wide, pale eyes looking right at them. 

"U-um," Saori's meek voice flitted over the rooftop, impossibly soft in contrast to their previous yelling, "T-Taiyou asked if you could c-come help?" 

\--- 

"Did Saori-kun go up to get Team New Nippon?" Kamui asked.

"Yes, I asked him to just a moment ago," Taiyou replied. He sat atop a ladder in the middle of Card Capital 2, carefully hanging small ornaments over the countertop. 

Kamui held up another glittering orb as Taiyou finished hanging one, "Here." 

"Thank you," Taiyou responded as he took it and went back to hanging. 

The relative peace lasted for about another ten seconds. 

"I still can't accept that we _lost_ to them in the Under 20!" Hiroki yelled as he raked both hands through his hair. 

"Ah, there he goes again," Kamui chuckled. 

Team Victories had made a good showing at Under 20 but had been ultimately eliminated in the quarter-finals by Team New Nippon. 

"I swear, if I had just gotten one more trigger I could've won!" Hiroki lamented as he flopped over a box of decorations. 

From his perch atop the ladder, Taiyou sighed softly, "Hiroki-kun, even if you had won, Saori-kun and I both lost our matches. We would've been eliminated either way." 

"One win is still better than no wins!" 

Ordinarily, Taiyou would've agreed. No one wanted to bow out of a tournament by getting swept clean. However, after his team's loss, he had done a lot of thinking.

"Team New Nippon," Taiyou recalled, "wasn't just made of good fighters. They were better than us as a team." 

They had predicted the order that Victories would send out their fighters and picked their battles accordingly. Makoto's defensive shadowstitch carefully rode out the brunt of Hiroki's hits, Arata's engorging rears lessened the efficiency of Saori's retires, and Noa's lock choked out Taiyou's field until victory was theirs. 

It was a frustrating, but enlightening experience. 

After winning Under 20 with Team Striders the year prior, all Taiyou had had eyes for was the chance to face Chrono on the same stage, on his own two feet. But, losing to Team New Nippon as they had had exposed that he still had a lot more to grow and learn. 

As both a leader, and as a team member. 

Taiyou let go of the ornament he had just hung and gazed at his own reflection in the glittery red orb. 

"Next time, we'll be the better team." 

At the foot of the ladder, Kamui smiled knowingly. He knew the duality of frustration and determination after a loss better than most, so he wagered that he could imagine exactly how Taiyou felt. It was reasons like that that he had chosen to take up Vanguard coaching officially after he had graduated from high school. 

Of course, just because he was an official coach, though, didn’t mean that he was contractually prohibited from running a training camp or two when he felt like it. 

"I can sense your resolve, Taiyou," Kamui began firmly, "So, I've decided – Team Victories are in need of group training. And who better than the great Katsuragi-" 

"Aaah!!" Hiroki banged his fists against the table and abruptly stood up, knocking over his chair. "Next year! Next year we won't lose! Not to Team New Nippon, not to Fukuhara High School, and especially not to-" 

The back door to Card Capital 2 slammed open abruptly to reveal Misaki, eyebrow twitching in irritation as she glared. 

"Who," she began, "was yelling, just now?" 

Hiroki, Kamui, and Taiyou all jolted, cold sweat creeping against their necks. 

"U-um, t-that's um," Kamui stuttered under Misaki's eyes as he scrambled to cobble together a defense, "Well, y-you see-" 

"I told all of you before, didn't I?" Misaki spoke slowly, punctuating every word, "That Shin-san is making an important phone call right now." 

Kamui shut his mouth at once, hands unconsciously trembling. 

"So be quiet!" 

\--- 

"Ah, sorry about that. Some fighters are planning a Christmas party at the store today," Shin chuckled as he cupped his hand over the receiver. 

The laugh on the opposite end of the line was warm and husky, "Don't worry about it." 

"So, how are you lately, Master?" Shin asked. The old title was heavy on his tongue, dusty with disuse.

"I've been well. How about you, Shin?" 

"I've been well, too. There's never a dull day at Card Capital 2." 

"That's good to hear," Rive laughed good-naturedly, "Still, I never thought I'd see the day that you actually settled down, Shin. Where's the brat that always begged for 'one more match.'" 

Even if Rive couldn't see it, Shin smiled, tight-lipped and solemn as he drank in the reminiscence of a time past. 

"Well, one can only stay immature for so long! The story of my life can't end in my youth," he protested in a playful tone. 

"The same goes for your son, Master Rive." 

A profound silence settled over the line.

"Chrono-kun won this year's Under 20 again," Shin said quietly. 

"I know," Rive answered. 

"He seems to grow more every day, both as a person and as a fighter," Shin continued. 

"I know." 

"He's close to the point where one can hardly call him a child anymore." 

"I know." 

With each word, Shin inched closer to the heart of the matter. And each time, Rive replied quietly took another step back. 

"Then," Shin leaned back against the wall, "Come home, Master." 

At that, Rive fell silent. 

"I won't pretend that returning will be simple or easy after all this time. But, Chrono-kun is chasing the future he desires," having witnessed the boy firsthand, Shin spoke with confidence, "Impatiently, wholly determined to move forward." 

When Rive spoke again, his voice was markedly less solemn, "Reminds me of someone I used to know." 

Shin wasn't deterred by his former master's attempt to lighten the mood. "Chrono-kun, Mikuru-san, and," he paused, "even Tokimi-san have been waiting for a long time." 

A beat passed. 

"I know," Rive breathed in audibly, "trust me, I know." 

The hinges of Card Capital 2's front door creaked loudly as it swung open. 

\--- 

"Hello?" Chrono cradled his phone in the crook of his shoulder. 

"Ah, Shindou. Come out." 

Chrono stopped writing mid-sentence and jerked his head to catch a glimpse of the time. Seven-fifteen. Well past the seven o' clock starting time for the Christmas party. 

"Shindou?" 

Chrono cursed under his breath as he fumbled to close his notes while keeping his phone balanced on the crook of his shoulder. 

"Chrono if you don't answer I'm going to assume that you got kidnapped-" 

Chrono slammed his pencil onto a notebook forcefully and began to muscle on a jacket as he blurted, "Wait! Sorry, sorry I just lost track of time again while studying." 

From the opposite end of the line, Kazuma chucked, "I thought that might've been the case. Come on out, everyone's waiting." 

"Alright, alright, I'm on my way down," Chrono said as he dashed out the front door- 

Only find Kazuma standing right outside, phone still against his ear. 

"I thought you might've lost track of time, so I figured I might as well come up," Kazuma said as he hung up their call and put away his phone, "Studying hard?" 

Chrono audibly groaned as he closed the door behind him and locked it, "You or Shion are going to have to explain what exactly the postulates of special relativity are."

Kazuma laughed as the two began to head downstairs, "I can tutor you on Tuesday. Hang in there in the meantime." 

"Thanks," Chrono said, "Let's go." 

The two began making their way to Card Capital 2, the brisk December air clouding their breaths as they idly chatted. 

"We're actually pretty close to graduating ourselves, aren't we?" Kazuma mused. 

"Yeah, we've only got about a year now."

"Have you got your list of schools ready?"

"More or less."

"That's good to hear. For the first few months after Gyze I really thought you were a lost cause," Kazuma smirked. 

Chrono shoved his hands into his pockets. Usually, his gut response to Kazuma's sass was either indignant muttering or just shoving his friend in the shoulder, but for once he did neither. 

"Hey Kazuma."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For not giving up on me."

Kazuma's steps slowed as he glanced over to Chrono. After some thought and consideration for the atypical atmosphere, he replied, "You too."

They fell into an easy silence once more. 

The life that they had won through Gyze's destruction was at times mundane, exciting, frustrating, and joyous - sometimes all at once. But even after all that had transpired, they were still living. Still growing and changing, yet staying the same, day by day. 

"Hey Chrono?"

"Yeah?" 

Kazuma grinned mischievously, the faint lamplight sparking his grey eyes to life as he said two, small words, "Race you." 

Then took off running down the street, cold air filling his lungs to the brim as he pounded down the street. Behind him, Chrono sputtered indignantly before he raced after, right at Kazuma's heels. 

\--- 

The last time Ibuki heard the voice of Messiah was much like the first time – in his dreams. 

_"My time is nigh."_

He breathed out, "Then, I suppose this is the last time we'll meet?" 

Even before Messiah's calm voice echoed in Ibuki's mind, he knew the answer, _"Yes, my young Vanguard. While I shall continue to fade into Cray itself for centuries to come, my power will no longer be able to reach you."_

"I thought that might be the case." 

_"You are troubled."_

"Perhaps," Ibuki sighed softly. "More than ever, the path before me is clear, and yet." He tilted his head back and let his eyes fill with the stars around him. It was silly, he knew, but still, "I wonder if I will ever do enough to right the wrongs of my past." 

His voice held a certain vulnerable candor that he only ever felt comfortable using in Messiah's presence. Despite being a Deity, she bore no judgement towards him. 

" _Walk with your head held high, my young Vanguard_ ," Messiah intoned, "F _or you do not walk alone_." 

At that, Ibuki smiled and sighed as his mind brought him back to memories where he chased after Miwa and Kai with his knobbly knees, young and naïve and full of hope. Ever since he had remembered those first, fleeting memories, he had made it a point of never forgetting them again. 

"I never have." 

\--- 

Ibuki's eyes slowly slid open to the familiar ceiling of his bedroom. The sun had yet to fully rise, leaving the whole room bathed in an inky indigo. And, besides the sound of Ibuki's own breaths, it was silent. 

As he sat up, a slow, steady stream of contemplation filtered through the early morning haze. 

It was December 26th, the day after Christmas. 

One year ago, Ibuki had been brought to his knees, writhing in pain as chains were wrought over his heart. 

And now, after a year and a day, Ibuki sat in his bedroom and breathed in the taste of a new era, not unlike the dawn when he had first received Neon Messiah from Aichi. 

The war was over. 

But he, and everyone else, were still just beginning. 

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas Sage! 
> 
> There was a lot less "Christmas" to this than I initially intended, but I hope that you still enjoyed it!


End file.
